Isatuximab and Bendamustine in Systemic Light Chain Amyloidosis
brief summary
Patients with systemic light chain (AL) amyloidosis, particularly those who are ineligible for transplant or have relapsed/refractory disease, have limited treatment options. The combination of bendamustine and dexamethasone is well-tolerated and efficacious in patients with relapsed/refractory AL amyloidosis. Anti-CD38 antibodies have recently demonstrated great efficacy in AL amyloidosis. Adding isatuximab, a monoclonal antibody targeting CD38, to bendamustine would combine two mechanisms of targeting the clonal plasma cell without significant overlap in toxicity. This would provide a steroid minimizing and neurotoxic-free regimen for patients with AL amyloidosis. This study is a phase II clinical trial of isatuximab and bendamustine in newly diagnosed or relapsed/refractory AL amyloidosis. It is hypothesized that this combination will result in a high number of deep hematologic responses.
detailed description
Systemic light-chain amyloidosis is a disorder in which clonal plasma cells produce misfolded immunoglobulin light chains that deposit in tissues resulting in organ dysfunction and ultimately death. The incidence in the United States is estimated to be 9.7 to 14.0 cases per million person-years with median survival from diagnosis between 6 months and 3 years.
The standard of care for those who are eligible is high dose chemotherapy with ASCT. However, only 20-25% of patients are eligible for ASCT with another one-third of patients becoming eligible after bortezomib-based induction. Transplant ineligible patients and patients with relapsed disease after transplant are treated with evolving combinations of anti-plasma cell agents adapted from multiple myeloma including melphalan, cyclophosphamide, proteasome inhibitors, immunomodulatory agents with no therapies approved specifically for this disease.
Bendamustine is an alkylating agent that has established anti plasma cell efficacy in both first-line and refractory multiple myeloma. Known for its efficacy and tolerability in a wide array of hematologic malignancies, toxicity profile consists of cytopenias, gastrointestinal side effects, and allergic reactions. In patients with indolent non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, bendamustine with rituximab showed superior 5 year event free survival compared to R-CHOP or R-CVP with a more tolerable toxicity profile.
The tolerability of bendamustine made it an attractive agent for AL amyloidosis given the older patient population and co-existence of organ impairment. Efficacy of bendamustine in AL amyloidosis was recently demonstrated in a multicenter phase II study of 31 patients with relapsed/refractory AL amyloidosis who were given bendamustine 100mg/m2 on days 1 and 2 and dexamethasone 40mg weekly of 28 day cycle (2-12 cycles, median 4 cycles). Hematologic response of very good partial response (VGPR) or greater was achieved in 29% of patients (11% complete response) at median of 2.8 months and 29% achieved organ response. The median overall survival (OS) was 18.2 months, but the median OS was not reached among patients who achieved a hematologic partial response (PR) or better after 2 cycles at a median follow up of 14.9 months. Overall, treatment was well tolerated; the most common grade 3/4 toxicities were leukopenia, fatigue, renal dysfunction, rash, and mood symptoms.
Plasma cells are known to express CD38, including the monoclonal plasma cells that result in AL amyloidosis. Monoclonal antibodies targeting CD38 have become standard of care in multiple myeloma and more recently have demonstrated safety and superior efficacy when combined with cyclophosphamide, bortezomib, and dexamethasone (CyBorD) compared to CyBorD alone in patients with newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis.